[gillie]

"also some other veg not sure if its beetroot or not."

I think it is chard... Swiss chard at the back and a ruby chard (or similar) at the front.  The weed is chickweed which is not a bad green manure in itself.

How nice of the previous tenant to sow all that green manure.  Do you think he knew he was giving up and planted it to 'hold' the soil for his successor?

[Fisherman]

The first thing to do is to decide what you would like to grow based on what you and your family like to eat.

Hmmm but I cant grow pepperoni pizza :-)
Seriously though, I think our main vegetable eating is potatoes, carrots, runner beans, sprouts, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, basil, coriander, onion, peppers, brocolli, cauliflower, cucumber, melons, mushrooms, peas, strawberries

What's wrong with: -
artichokes, asparaus, aubergine, beetroot,  borecole, broad bean, celeriac, celery, chicory, courgette, fennel, gherkin, garlic, kohl rabi, leek, mustard, okra, pak choi, parsnip, pumpkin, radish, rocket, salsify, shallot, spinach, squash, sweet corn, swiss chard, turnip   

Defintely worth growing

Sure's there's more

[Paul Canning]

"also some other veg not sure if its beetroot or not."

I think it is chard... Swiss chard at the back and a ruby chard (or similar) at the front.  The weed is chickweed which is not a bad green manure in itself.

How nice of the previous tenant to sow all that green manure.  Do you think he knew he was giving up and planted it to 'hold' the soil for his successor?

funny you say that,  the story from the allotment secretary is (ironically) he was an Irish fella that wanted to give the plot up last year but was persuaded to keep it for another year, but he runs his own business and I get the impression that is taking a lot of his time at the moment, not surprisingly in the current climate.

I say ironically as I too am Irish though been here since 1989.

So I suspect he had been planning giving it up for most of that year really.

I'll try to get a better pic of the ?chard? tomorrow as Ive never heard of chard I have to admit.

[Paul Canning]

The first thing to do is to decide what you would like to grow based on what you and your family like to eat.

Hmmm but I cant grow pepperoni pizza :-)
Seriously though, I think our main vegetable eating is potatoes, carrots, runner beans, sprouts, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, basil, coriander, onion, peppers, brocolli, cauliflower, cucumber, melons, mushrooms, peas, strawberries

What's wrong with: -
artichokes, asparaus, aubergine, beetroot,  borecole, broad bean, celeriac, celery, chicory, courgette, fennel, gherkin, garlic, kohl rabi, leek, mustard, okra, pak choi, parsnip, pumpkin, radish, rocket, salsify, shallot, spinach, squash, sweet corn, swiss chard, turnip   

Defintely worth growing

Sure's there's more

Nothing wrong with any of them but most of that list we just don't eat, not enough to use the allotment for anyway. ok, pumpkin I would grow a few but only for halloween to be honest, spinach can be done in my back garden along with garlic.

My big problem is that I think this first year will be a great learning experience, ie taking crop rotation, space and utilising the land for as much of the year as possible into account. :-)

[Fisherman]

Hi Paul
As said earlier the main thing to do is to grow what you and your family like to eat, however it is surprising how your tastes will change and expand over time. I started years ago with a few veg and I now grow a wide range of veg and also have chickens as well. Chickens are the best all they are quite a committment.

By far the most important thing is to enjoy

[grendel]

how about fruit, blackberries, gooseberries strawberries, raspberries etc all of those cost a fortune in the shops and are great for small hands to help pick.
Grendel

[Paul Canning]

Hi Paul
As said earlier the main thing to do is to grow what you and your family like to eat, however it is surprising how your tastes will change and expand over time. I started years ago with a few veg and I now grow a wide range of veg and also have chickens as well. Chickens are the best all they are quite a committment.

By far the most important thing is to enjoy

Oh i know all about chickens, we have 5 in our back garden, lots of lovely free range eggs :-)

[Paul Canning]

how about fruit, blackberries, gooseberries strawberries, raspberries etc all of those cost a fortune in the shops and are great for small hands to help pick.
Grendel

strawberries will definitely be on the agenda, and theres already some raspberry canes on there but ive decided against blackberries as I know a country road thats full of them within 5 miles of where I live and we've picked loads this year and am in fact going to be bottling 6 bottles of homebrew blackberry wine tomorrow :-)

[Christine]

Nobody has told you to get a compost corner going. It'll save you a lot of trouble being able to compost waste and will give you something to put back into the soil.

[Paul Canning]

already on the list Christine 

In fact, Im on here and having a cheese butty then Im off to the allotment in 15 minutes to do exactly that, managed to get about 8 pallets :-)

Im dragging 'er indoors and the kids up to help clear a bit of the bordering fence too :-) but it'll be near dark in 90 minutes :-(

[stompy]

Now is the time of year to do the ground work on either a new or old plot.
Are you using an open plot or are you going to use raised beds.
Raised beds help if you have drainage problems or heavy soil and also give you a more visual idea for crop rotation.
They also make it a little easier to clear the plot (decide on the area you want the raised bed, build the raised bed, put cardboard down over the weeds and then fill the raised bed with either well rotted manure or top soil or both) the cardboard and the depth of new growing material will smother most if not all weeds, even perenials (docks, nettles, couch grass Etc).
Then just keep the paths clear by strimming cutting (etc) you could also employ no dig growing 

And as said by all, Enjoy it, after all thats half the reason we all do it isn't it   

Andy